Healers blood
by stormychild95
Summary: It starts out as a pretty easy mission. But it turns out to be much bigger. When the team meets two young healers and a lonely orphan it leads to a journey that will change their lives forever... Summary sucks, I know! But PLEASE R&R! Puppy eyes...
1. New guys

**Hi everyone! This is my first Hellboy fanfic (my first fanfic at all) so please have patience with spelling mistakes and such :) Since about three thousands sequels to the feature films has already been made I thought Id concentrate on the animated ones, which means Red and Liz are not a couple and Abe is not psychic, but please give it a chance and read anyway! This fic takes place a month after "Blood and Iron". I will bring in some characters from the comics and feature films and, well, you can probably figure out which characters are mine and which are Mike Mignolas, yourselves.**

**And to you who haven't seen the animated movies: watch them! You won't be disappointed!**

**Enough blabbering, here's the fic:**

* * *

The hunt had only begun. She knew that… she knew that all too well… even though the grown ups, even her own sister tried to hide it from her.

She wrapped an old dusty duvet around her in a sorry attempt to keep the cold out. There was no electricity, not even good isolation. It was too quiet. Only the howling wind and the sound of old trees creaking and rustling outside the cottage. Like they were complaining.

"Tired?" she turned her head to see her sister sitting with her arms around her legs in the window, folded like a cat waiting for a pray. "You really should get some sleep, Gabrielle" the young girl added with a slight smile.

"Why are we so quiet, Jo?" Gabrielle questioned and tilted her head slightly.

Jo bit her lip and turned her gaze back to the nothingness of the night.

"You shouldn't worry, sis… I told you we are only staying here a couple of nights! Then we can go back to auntie Carol and all our friends at the orphanage!"

"Then why were we running!?" Gabrielles voice raised and she was on the brink of tears.

Jo didn't know what to say. She'd always known that they would come to this point eventually. Gabrielle was too smart to be kept out of this. Jo pushed back her long, black, messy hair and jumped down from the window. She kneeled down to her sisters level and put her hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. Even if she was unsure what to say, she didn't look down. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her.

"Listen, Bri, I know we aren't in a very good shape right now, but trust me; it will be okay! I…"

"You're just saying that!" Gabrielles words made Jo shift and she looked down for a moment. She knew it was true.

"You're saying it so I will think its okay! But its not! Its not, Jo! The bad men, they are coming after us, right? They want to lock us up because were not normal!"

"Gabrielle!" Jo fixed her sisters gaze. The flickering lights from the chandeliers made her expression look even darker, panic shining in her eyes. "Bri, please! I promise! I promise you, no matter what; everything will be okay! The bad men will never catch you because I wont let them!"

"Everything okay, girls?" Two tall men came into the room. One with long white beard and horn-ribbed glasses and one younger with short, curly hair and well sculptured jaw-bones, holding another chandelier. Jo smiled and rose to her feet.

"Yes, Jack." She answered the younger man, "Gabrielle is just worried."

"Oh, she shouldn't be, with a sister like you watching over her, Joanne." the old man said and you could hear from his deep voice that he was a man with experience.

"Your very kind, mr Emmers." she replied.

The next second the four of them jumped at the sound of sirens breaking the silence.

"Precious God, their here!" Jack stuttered and disappeared into the hall.

Gabrielle had jumped up and was staring straight at the window where flashlights sent ice cold beams into the room.

"Hurry! The backdoor! Take your sister with you, Joanne!" mr Emmers shouted.

"But what about you?!" she screamed with tears in her eyes.

"We will be all right! Run! Just run!"

"Emmers!" he gave her a determined look and she knew it might be the last time she saw them. She took her sisters hand, looked at the old man one last time, then she ran.

The cold November air blowed right through their thin shirts and jackets. Twigs and branches left deep cuts in their faces. Their bare feet met muddy cold ground and they risked to fall and brake every bone in their body at each step. But they kept running. Anything was better than the raised voices coming closer and closer behind them. They were too many, too fast and too strong. The air seemed to claw the inside of their chests and they breathed heavily. Even closer now. Too close.

Joanne dragged her sister down a hill, feeling raindrops starting to fall. Even closer. They dived down behind a bush on the brink of a riverbed. Joanne pulled her sister close to her feeling her shake from the cold and the fear.

"They cant be far away!"

"Find the little freaks! NOW!"

Silent tears was streaming down Bri´s face mixing with the raindrops. Joanne sqeezed her sister tight and started to hum an old lullaby they had heard at the orphanage;

"The wolf is howling her lullaby, she tries, but she cant go to sleep…"

"Check the river! We´ll comb the whole forest if we have to!"

"...hunger is pawing her belly at night, it is cold and quiet out there…"

"I think I heard something! This way!"

Joanne took her sisters hand and dragged her along the river. Their wide trousers flapped around their feet as they run. Suddenly they stopped. Dead end. Now they had to choose between the followers and the furious water fall in front of them. Cascades of ice cold water roared over the edge, into the black nothingness. The sisters looked at each other, suddenly determined.

"...oh wolf, oh wolf, please don't you come here…"

"I see them! There they are!"

"…ill never give up my own cub…"

She squeezed her little sisters hand, shut her eyes close…

"Almost there!"

They jumped into the nothingness…

¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ thirty years later ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤

Snow was draping the mountains of Colorado like a furry, white blanket. Well, it always did, but now, in December a few more centimetres had fallen. The evening was arriving, but not with beautiful, pink sunsets, as one may think. The clouds were covering the sun 24 hours a day. The dark blue-ish white light gave a feeling that you were not really sure where the mountains ended and the sky started.

In the middle of this ice cold nothingness you could suddenly see blinking orange and red lights, pointing out the location of a very strange building.

It was grey, and it looked like someone had carved it right out of the mountain. A huge, flat area for landing helicopters took up most of the exterior along with weird apparatus and tons of wires on the strangest places.

However, somewhere inside this building a young man with a cap and huge Harry Potter glasses, making him look like some deranged owl, rushed through endless corridors. His military green jacket was a few sizes too big and flapped around him like wings. The "owl" flew past a few agents, missing them only by inches and ignoring the angry outbursts as he made his way towards another group of agents

"`Scuse me, scuse me! Coming through!" he shouted a bit to loud. The older agents murmured something about "new guys".

The young man finally got to a pair of huge doors and slammed them open.

"Jeez, you'll never believe what's happened!"

The four people in the room jumped and turned their eyes to him, but seeing who it was they sighed and got back to playing chess or chatting.

"Let me guess… You went out of the building _**without**_ getting locked out?" asked a young, pretty short girl with long, chocolate brown hair brought up in a pony tail, sarcastically.

"Ha-hah-very-funny, Liz…", he murmured, and continued; "I just found… eh…" he dug around in his pockets a while and a few odd objects and papers fell to the floor before he found what he was looking for, "…this!" he held out a piece of yellow-ish paper that looked like it had gone through seven years of misfortune.

"What's that? Your car-fine?" asked a middle-age agent with black, messy hair and a patch over one eye, making him look like a pirate. He sat in a huge sofa and was completely into an epic game of chess against another agent.

"No, Clark, look this is serious, guys!" he said desperately.

"U-huh…" murmured another young woman, decorating a Christmas tree that took up most of the space in the room, "Well, lets hear it, Sid…"

"Thanks, Kate! At least someone is listening! Ehurm… it says: "Special Agent Abe Sapien reporting to bureau…"

"Its from Abe?" Liz interrupted and stood up, realizing too late that she looked a bit too interested, "I mean… it could be important, I mean he is studying those Hungarian Enteelodonts…"

"That is why I am trying to _**read**_ it…" Sidney said giving Liz an irritated look "Anyways; " The studies of these interesting creatures are a work in progress. Our latest discoveries are for example that their eggs produce a sort of liquid that shows high levels of paranormal activity. It is not on any normal levels, we have been examining a few of these eggs and it turns out this "para-liquid" has an ability to rebuild dead cell tissue. Not enough to make someone "forever young" or anything like it. It can be compared to an extremely powerful body lotion."

"So fishy is studying body lotion-eggs in Hungary… hold me back, I don't think I can take all the excitement…" the other of the older agents, sighed and rested his head in his hand.

"Bud…Waller…would you please…care…to _**shutup**_…while I'm reading?" said Sidney apparently on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"Sorry, Sid, go on!"

"Right! Okay; "I will be returning to the bureau in a week, December 11th , and Manning is apparently expecting a full report on the life cycle of the Acid Spitting Snails from you until then (such a charming man...). I miss you all and hope Red is healing well.

Abe Sapien."

"Hey, did you say "December 11th ?" Liz suddenly asked, as her face started to change colour.

"Yeah…?"

"In a week?" she continued trying to control her voice.

"Sid, when you say "found"…" Kate started, "do you mean found it in the mailbox? Because that paper doesn't exactly look like you've just got it…"

"You see…" Sidney started, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand, "It might, just _**might**_, be so that… I got this… a few days ago… like, you know… a week, and… sort of… forgot to tell you…" his voice faded out to a whisper and he suddenly found the sealing very interesting.

Liz's ears started to turn red and her eyes gleamed orange, like she wouldn't have anything against burning Sidney Leech to ash. Though the young pyrokinetic managed to pull herself together.

"Well, December 11th happens to be today and if I didn't get you wrong Manning's expecting a full report on Spitting Snails today, right, Sid?"

In the same moment the doors opened and two very unusual men stepped into the room. One of them looked a bit like a giant, red monkey with something that looked like two corks in his forehead and one fist five times bigger than the other.

After him came an a bit smaller man that can only be described as a merman. This odd duo happened to be two of the top agents of the bureau.

"Hey, guys!" cheered the big, red man, "Look what I found!"

"Abe! You're back!" Kate beamed, happy to see her friend again, as she went to give the fish-man a hug.

"Its very nice to be home!" he said calmly, "I do hope you got my letter?"

"Yes, after a few… complications…" Kate said giving Sidney the evil eye.

"Abe, I've missed you!" Liz smiled and put her arms around him, suddenly realizing that the tone of her voice could be… seriously misunderstood. She felt that her cheeks were burning and she let him go quickly.

"I've missed you too, Liz." the merman answered, a bit perplexed.

"Well your not gettin any hugs from me!" agent Clark chuckled and shook Abes hand.

"As I said its nice to be back. Studying Enteelodonts is interesting, but… tiring. They are not particularly friendly creatures. So you're back on your feet, Hellboy."

"Yeah, takes pretty much to make me invalid." He demon grinned, "But that Hecate-godess-thing was really going for it…"

"Big circus family reunion, I see…" a bitter voice said and seven pairs eyes turned to the doors. Off course it was the ever-bitter, half-bald Thomas Manning, as always carrying a cup of coffee and a folder. If you searched half the galaxy you would never find a man with better experiences of driving people mad, than him.

"Well I better… go write some reports…" Sidney murmured and was halfway through the doors when he got stopped.

"Just a minute, kid! There's someone I want you to meet, all of you. It would seem we have a new recruit to the freak show…"

"Oh, right! I almost forgot that! Was it today he is coming?" Kate said.

"Uh-huh… his name is… Kra... Kraut… something… Whatever! He can make the introductions! Just… don't stare, he's kind of weird… not that that will be a problem around here…"

Hellboy started to say something, but Abe soon realized it was nothing you wanted to hear in a civilized conversation, so the demon was silenced by an elbow in his ribs.

The merman got a blaming look as a least to say unusual man stepped through the doors…

At the same time in a place unknown to most people, a stormy beach where the wind howled and threw strange echoes and furious, black waves crashed in over rocky and cold land, a lonely man sat on a high rock absent-mindedly watching the troubled, endless sea.

The wind blew through his leather-jacket and made his curly hair stand in every direction. But he was not bothered by the cold, no, he had lived far too long, experienced far too much pain and despair to be concerned of getting cold.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, came another figure wandering along the beach and sat down beside the young man to watch the dark sky. It was a young woman.

Though it was clear she wasn't from the normal human raze. Not at all.

For starters, her ears were pointy. She had made no trouble hiding them.

Her hair was cut in a short boy-style and stood up in every direction. This made her look very mature, yet curios and rather boy-ish. She was very beautiful. Her skin was very pale, like marble, and had little cracks here and there. The contrast between her black lips, the bright red almost venomous colour on her hair and the ice cold blue eyes made her look rather terrifying. In fact, looking into her eyes would make anyone's blood freeze.

But the young man was used to her ice cold appearance. She didn't scare him anymore.

"You are late…" the young man said without taking his gaze from the ocean.

"I am truly sorry…" she answered with no trace of regret in her snakelike voice.

"I thought elves were very punctual…" he said smiling, still not turning his head.

She let out a hissing chuckle that still made the young man jump a bit.

"Mr Silverfox, you should know me better than thinking of me as an elf…"

"Why, you are an elf, Amara!"

"Pff! My kind pities the humans too much for my taste… I don't hate them, I am friend with you, for example, but they must learn the boundaries. I don't really hate elves either, but those Silverlances… they are such a bunch of bleeding hearted weaklings! Especially that worm King Balor!"

"Now, now, my friend! Let's not make this a time for cross words! I am here to ask you for a favour. We have just located the young girl…"

"The Devaux-girl?" Amara interrupted.

"Yes!" he smiled "We have found Lucy!"

At this remark Amara threw her head back in a hissing laughter that sounded a bit too sinister for Silverfox's liking.

"Oh! This is too sweet to be true! A family reunion! And it is a shame little Lucy will have to be brought by force…"

* * *

**Yep, that was the first chapter! Things will get its explanation later! And, yes, there is something going on between Abe and Liz :) I felt it was such a shame they didn't pick that thread up again in "Blood and Iron". I'm pretty weird in the fact that I like the HB/Liz pairing in the features and the Abe/Liz pairing in the animated ones… :P The wolf-lullaby is actually a Swedish song and I translated it as well as I could. Oh, and the name Devaux is pronounced Devo. This is not a masterpiece, but please review! It would mean soooo much! :)**

**Thankyou! – Stormie95**


	2. The good old methods

**Hi, everyone! Im gonna keep my pointless remarks short today and get right on the fic. Heres chapter two.**

* * *

"Hello!"

Awkward silence filled the room. None in the team could help staring. They had seen unusual things, but never anything like their new team mate.

He was, to put it in simple terms, a white, pulsing gaz contained in some sort of leather space suit. The glass bowl that was obviously his head turned slightly as he "looked" at each of the BPRD- agents, one at the time. They were still to surprised to realize that they were standing like goldfishes with wide open mouths.

Abe was the first to pull himself together, being the gentleman he was he felt they were being very rood.

"Nice to meet you! My name is…"

WHOOOSH!

Abe nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden sound. It obviously came from the ectoplasmic man, because little clouds of smoke came out of weird apparatus at the front of the glass bowl.

"Do forgive me! I forget zat people are not used to my… unique condition…"

"Oh, that's… okay! Not a problem! Welcome to the BPRD! My name is Abraham Sapien, well you can call me Abe."

"I am Johann. Johann Krauss."

"Nice to meet you, Johann!" Liz smiled. She, Sidney, Kate and the two other agents had regained control over themselves and the newcomer had soon been introduced to everybody.

"So, Kraut…"

"Krauss, agent Hellboy! It iz Krauss!" Johann cut in and Hellboy wrinkled his nose. He couldn't recall ever being called "agent Hellboy" before and innerly hoped that this guy wouldn't make it a habit.

"Yeah… Hellboy's fine… anyways, how did you end up at the bureau in the first place?"

Johann's answer was drowned by the bone cutting sound of sirens and the room suddenly bathed in red, flashing light. The ectoplasmic man jumped slightly.

"Its okay! New mission…" Liz explained.

"Crap… I wasn't even awake yet…"

"Red, you always sleep in…" Kate grinned and elbowed him in the side.

"Ouch! Could everyone please be more careful with my ribs today?" the demon complained and they all started to move towards the armory rooms. Even if the team would have wanted more time to get to know Johann, it turned out everyone was needed for the mission, at least in Manning's mind.

Moments later Abe, Red, Liz, Kate, Johann and a few more agents were stewed away in the large helicopter that would take them to the "crime scene". Once again the bitter Tom Manning stepped into the helicopter and unfolded a few papers.

"Where's that clown, Leech?" was his first input.

"Oh, he had to… write a few urgent reports…" Kate explained, trying to keep her voice casual.

"Uh-huh…"

"You just gonna sit there or are ya going to tell us what were up against?" Hellboy asked. Manning was not exactly his favorite person.

"School…"

"What?"

"Attack in a school in London… some sort of electricity controlling… spider psycho-things… that's all I could squeeze out of those damn lab amateurs…"

"Why, that narrows it down, doesn't it…"

"The school doesn't have any supernatural connections in its history," he continued, ignoring Hellboys comment, "Not even a haunting… just hoping the headmaster won't sue us after we've freaked out the children… "

"So, ve have no idea vat vere up against, and ve are zuppozed to crash into a zchool and take care of gigantic zpiderz zat shoot electrizity?" Johann asked and if he had any facial expressions he would probably have raised his eyebrows.

"That about sums it up…" Liz murmured reading through a file, "Welcome to our world…"

* * *

"Lu! Lu, will you wake up!"

"Lucy…" too late. The hawk-like social studies teacher Mrs. Roberts was already at Lucy's bench and fixed her gaze with her eagle eyes. Lu could see her own terrified reflection in the teachers tiny, glasses, shaped like little baseballs as she leaned over the bench, making it creak.

"Miss Lucy, you did fail on the last test so I am expecting a little more attention from you." she said with a voice that was sugar sweet enough to make you sick.

Lucy wanted to argue, but realized she hadn't any energy left for that. Plus, if Deborah Roberts started yelling at her when she was only inches away from her face, she would probably faint from the odor of old coffee, cigarettes and… something else.

"Okay, Mrs. Roberts…" she murmured, almost falling backwards in her chair, trying to keep her distance. The teachers face turned from diamond cutting gaze to a smile that gleamed like gold.

"Good!" Lucy's face turned redder than tomatoes and muffled chuckles came from all around the classroom as Mrs. Roberts returned to the board on a bit too high heels.

"Tried to warn ya…" the girl beside her murmured in a low voice.

"That stupid dog-breath hawk just wont cut me any slack…" Lucy answered, "Its always me! She doesn't watch anyone as close as me, Abby…"

"You're going paranoid." the girl called Abby murmured, sounding almost entertained. The three thousand layers of black eyeliner strengthened her facial expressions and the long, messy, black fringe covered her eyebrows, which made her eyes look even bigger.

"Oh thanks, so called friend! Just because you're a little wonder writer and best friends with the English teacher!"

"Well it's a shame that's my only good subject…" the punky girl said, chewing her lip-piercing sounding like she hadn't even noticed the provoking tone in Lu's voice.

"Hm…" Lucy pushed back her long, red hair and gazed absent-mindedly through the windows. A white world of concrete houses covered in snow stretched as far as she could see.

It had just started snowing again. Lu felt frozen to her bones just by looking at it, but not uncomfortable. It was a hundred times better than the usual rain that always seemed to hang like a carpet over London. This reminded her of the winters spent with her uncle when she and Abby were six. She thought of Bella, the golden retriever her uncle had owned for twelve happy years. She missed her…

She was abruptly cut off from her thoughts by a huge BANG.

The first thought that hit her was "World War Three". Then she realized what an absurd thought it was and stood up like the rest of the people in the class.

She heard screams. Bone cutting screams that emerged from the stairs.

"What on earth…?" Mrs. Roberts murmured and disappeared out through the doors, shouting an irritated "Sit down!" over her shoulder.

"Wow… someone is begging to get flayed alive…" Abby murmured and the class sat down. For some reason everybody looked a bit shaky after the sound. Lucy tried to ignore the bad feeling in her stomach and turned her gaze out through the window again.

Everything looked the same… except for the smoke.

Lucy stood up with a gasp and pressed her forehead against the ice cold glass, trying to get a better look. And there it was. The giant oak tree that had stood on the school ground for ages and the only thing left of it was a black-burned trunk from which grey columns of smoke rose to the white sky.

Lucy stood paralyzed for many seconds, with her forehead pressed to the glass, not able to turn her eyes from the disaster. She was only half aware of the screams from Mrs. Roberts and a bunch of younger students, and the ruff sound off scattering glass in a muffled mix from behind the doors and walls. Even over the chaos, Lucy could hear her own quickening heartbeats.

She was suddenly woken from her coma when her vision darkened. Literally. Something huge hit the window with a loud thud. Lucy flew backwards, felt that she hit something soft and fell to the floor without any sort of grace. The thing she had stumbled into, which happened to be Abby, gave up a grunt of pain. They where both on their feet quickly and Lucy was once again unable to look away from the window.

The huge, dark thing slipped away from it slowly and left long strings of some sort of thick, transparent slime on the glass.

It was a giant tentacle.

The atmosphere in the room was least to say chaotic and students almost knocked the door from its hinges, trying to get out.

"What you doing, idiot!?" Abby shouted desperately and grabbed her friends arm so her knuckles whitened

"What the hell… is that…?" Lucy could only stare at the slimy window.

"You wanna stay and ask? Wanna look it up in the "Big Book of Animals?" Come on, for gods sake!"

Lucy managed to snap out of it and followed Abby after the stream. Coming out of the room the girls discovered that they were in a least to say tricky situation.

The stream of students and teachers was already through the glass doors that led to the schools marble stairs and their frightened screams was disappearing. But the girls couldn't follow. Something blocked their way. Something big, hairy and slimy. A black spider, the size of an elephant but with something wrong with its legs. The spider was walking on several octopus tentacles, some that were not on the ground twisted dangerously around the face. A face you couldn't even imagine in your worst nightmares. A face full of soulless, black spider eyes.

Around the octopus spider was some sort of buzzing, electric, blue sparks. It didn't move. It just looked at them, like it was having a dilemma on who to eat first.

For a few seconds none of the girls could move either. The creature held something in its slimy jaws. Something big. Suddenly the "spider" spitted it out like a dog spitting out a not so delicious bone. The slimy whatever-it-was landed a few centimeters in front of the girls. The odor from it would have made them puke if they weren't paralyzed. It was a body, but it was so mutilated that you could never recognize the person it once was. They could only recognize one thing from the heap of blood, slime, organs, flesh and clothes in front of them; a pair of tiny, baseball shaped glasses, with a crack leaping across one glass.

That was enough for Abby and Lu.

They exchanged one glance, then turned around and ran. They ran faster than they'd ever run before. Panting and gasping they made a sharp turn into a new corridor, always aware of the electric buzzing that closed in from behind, mixing with some sort of hissing from the creature. None of the girls dared to stop and try a door, incase it was locked.

They had both been scared. In big carousels when they were small, for walking through dark alleys in December, but none of them had ever, ever felt this intense, pulsing fear filling their brains, driving them to the brink of panic. The horrible stink from the creature made them sick, and it soon became harder to breathe. Though the fear pumped their muscles full of adrenaline which made the running much easier. Almost creepily easier.

They took another sharp turn into a third corridor and felt like something had punched them in the chest.

A door blocked the way. A closed and probably locked door.

"This way!" Abby suddenly shouted and grabbed Lucy's hand dragging her to the right. There was another door. They threw their whole body weight against it and prayed.

It was open.

The thudding of tentacles hitting the floor closed in just as they flew into the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

"Lock it!" Abby shouted, but turning the lock with her hands drowned in sweat was nearly impossible. Though, after a few milliseconds Lucy could hear the little click in the lock and a wave of relief washed over her as the creature hit the door with a loud bang.

Suddenly feeling like her legs were turning into spaghetti she sank to the floor. Abby too seemed to be drained out of energy and sank down seconds after Lucy.

"What… the hell… is that thing?" was the only thing Abby could think of saying.

Lucy stared apathycally at the floor shaking slightly when the door took another knock from the creature.

"It… it killed Mrs. Roberts… it won't hesitate to kill us too…" she looked up and met Abby's hysterical gaze.

"We have to get out of here! We can climb up to the roof and take the fire staircases!" With shaky hands the girls managed to open a window. The cool winter air was paradise after the odor from the creature and the classroom. It was obviously some sort of lab room, but they had never been to this part of the school before.

Lucy grabbed the side of the window and the sweat on her hand quickly froze to ice. Snow hit her face and ice cold winds tried to make her loose the grip.

"Whatever you do, don't look down!" Abby shouted, and of course, when Lucy got the warning she automatically did.

The falling snow seemed to disappear into a white pit. She could see colorful hats on younger student's, running around in panic. It looked like the "War of the Ants" in color.

Lucy dragged her gaze from the ground and shut her eyes closed with a stone hard grip on the window.

"Holy shit…" she whispered pressing her forehead against the cold wall. She was and had always been terrified of heights. Now she felt like someone had punched her in the stomach.

BANG!

The creature had obviously gone at the door again. For a horrible second she thought it was through. Until Abby shouted:

"Jesus, Lu, please you have to climb! Its taking down that door any second!"

She opened her eyes. All her muscles refused to obey her. The fear had drained her completely. But she knew it was either this or ending up as spider food.

She bit her lip and turned her gaze slowly. There was a water pipe about a meter to the left. She reached for it with one shaking hand. It was so irritatingly close, yet exactly too far to reach. She was already shaking from the bitter cold since she was only wearing a pair of jeans, a cotton chemise and a wide, half buttoned shirt. Her finger tips met the cold metal of the pipe and suddenly she found it hard to breathe. Not because of fear or cold, but from a very familiar odor. Numerous black eyes surrounded by tentacles stared into her face.

With a scream she swung backwards, nearly loosing her grip and risking too fall into the white pit, but almost magically, she managed to get in through the window. Sharp pain flashed through her consciousness as her back and elbows scraped against the wood surrounding the window and she landed on the floor with a loud thud.

She could hear Abby gasp. Only one thought ran through her mind; there were more creatures.

Electric buzzing filled the room as the spider octopus pressed itself through the small opening. The light from the lamps started flickering like on a low-budget nightclub and the odor mixed with that familiar lab room-stink. Crawling backwards, Lucy struggled to get on her feet, but her limbs had failed her completely now. A tentacle stretched out.

So this was how it was going to end? How strange… she had never thought about death too much, only when she and Abby were little and had weird conversations on the subject.

"So, say if there was a major disaster…" she remembered Abby saying seriously

"How big, Ab?"

"BIG! So you were the only one left on earth! What would you do?"

"Suicide, I guess… I mean, it's depressing being on your own the rest of your life… how would you do it? I mean, what is the least painful way to die?"

"I dunno… drowning I guess! When you start hallucinating and see pretty things…"

"But it takes too long! I think Id jump off a bridge… or shoot myself!"

"Girls!" Lucy's mom cut in looking seriously worried, "Cant you talk about makeup or horses or… bocks, like other kids? I get sick hearing you die in all those horrible ways, you know!"

"Don't worry, mom! If there is a major disaster you won't have to see us commit suicide!"

"Oh, for god's sake…"

**_"Out of the way!"_** Abby shouted and in the next moment a jar containing some sort of liquid hit the spiders hideous face. It was obviously some sort of acid because the creature started frying and smoking like an egg in a fryer. It pulled back and cried out in agony and fury.

Lucy gasped, feeling herself being drawn on her feet by Abby.

"Thanks!" she breathed, not taking her eyes from the creature.

"Not a problem!" Abbys face suddenly turned even paler as she seemed to realize something "Now what do we do?"

"Uh… look for more acid?"

"Na-ah, the rest of the cupboards are locked!"

"Shit…"

"Yep… god help us…"

And in the same moment as the creature attacked again, help did come from above.

The girls couldn't do anything but stare as a huge, red hand grabbed one of the creatures tentacles and in the next second they were both gone through the window.

Deep thuds of fists hitting skin was soon heard muffled from the roof above them and massive pieces of snow fell to the ground outside the window. As if all this werent enough they could also hear a dark, cheerful voice, talking between the punches.

"Nothin… beats… the good old… fist fighting… methods! Pick… on someone… your own... size... you goddamned... monster!"

Abby and Lucy weren't given any time to reflect on what had just happened because the first creature had gone at the door again. With better luck this time…

* * *

**Yep, that was chapter two. Pretty violent, and sorry if it was too bloody for your taste. :p Hope you liked it and please review! And if theres something you want me to change, just let me know! **

**-Stormie95**


	3. The best way to cook calamari

**This is chapter three and it starts with a flashback...**

* * *

What in gods name am I doing here? Who am I? What am I?

No, I haven't gone mad! Still, its only madmen who asks themselves such questions. Wait, I remember… faces! Yes! Faces, flashing by! Plumbers faces, surprised faces… scared faces?

Is it me they are afraid of? No… Hardly… I don't feel particularly startling. Just sad… a sad little nobody without past or future… Floating in water? Yes, that is the only thing I am completely sure of. I am floating in water. No oxygen for… well as long as I've been at this awful place. Don't tell me I am a fish! Please don't! A human mind in a fish body… makes me want to laugh even at this sad time. They must have done something to the water…because I can't move… I'm not thinking straight either. My brain's a fuzzy mess at the time… at least that gives me some comfort. Maybe when I get out of here I will remember what happened to me… if I get out of here… Oh, what is this place? My vision is not that clear but I can see that the room is filled to the brink with all sorts of medical instruments. Each one of them seeming to have its own unique ways of cutting through someone's flesh. There is an operation table too… with leather straps for arms and legs… how charming… It is clearly some sort of lab. And I am trapped in it. That makes me a lab-rat… or fish…

I am not stupid. No, though they seem to think I don't understand English. I hear them talk. The pale men, with white jackets, discussing and waving and pointing. Pointing at… me? If I am that interesting then why won't they let me out of here? If they want to know so much about me, why don't they ask? Of course, what would I say to them… I don't even know my own name. That is perhaps what bothers me the most! If I knew my name I could at least have an identity to hold on to, no matter what these people will do to me. Now there is nothing…

I am not so sure how it happened. But suddenly I find myself looking at the calm, blue water from outside the tank. I am lying down… on the operation table.

This soon? Then I see them, the pale men, now wearing some sort of doctor mouth patches and lab glasses. Big glasses. Round, dark glasses, that makes them look like confused owls. They are holding a bunch of those medical instruments in their white-glowed hands now, reflecting the pale lights of the intense lamps that are directed straight at my sensitive eyes. Speaking of which… for some reason my eyes feels like they are more sensitive than they should be… now that I focus on physical pain… I find it hard to breathe! Like my lung capacity is… limited… how interesting…

It is when I look straight into the eyes of one of the pale men I notice something else. For the first time in my… well, what I can remember of my life, I can see my own reflection.

For others it might seem like the most natural thing in the world, looking into a mirror, but imagine looking in the mirror for the very first time in your life! You are completely aware that you're a grown up, you can think clearly, but you have no idea of what you look like.

That is why this strikes me with a very personal feeling, I can even say, a touch of sentimentality. Perhaps because knowing what I looked like gives me a sense of having some sort of control, something closer to an identity.

My reflection is a bit reanimated in the round glass and I can only see my face and parts of my shoulders, but I can see that I am not completely a fish. (Phew…) But I don't look like a man either. I have a man's face, but my eyes are… strange… no pupils… just serious (and pretty startled), deep blue eyes. My skin… what a strange colour… not entirely blue… kind of… grey-ish-green-blue… And with dark streaks going down in my forehead and on my chin… and… what is that on my neck? Gills? Oh dear… but that explains the breathing problems…

Suddenly I want to know more! I can't just die like this! Under a surgeon's knife! Not without knowing who I am! I must start gently. Even after what they have done to me, I have to take it easy, make them understand that I won't hurt them.

"Where… am I…?" hm… so this is my voice… hope it is just the fact that I haven't spoken in a while that makes it sound so… dry… the pale men jump slightly. Oh, please I am not that scary, am I?

"The dude can talk?" one of them murmurs, not to me, but to his colleague.

"Please… I will… not hurt anyone… just… talk to me… please" I manage. Nothing change in their almost sinister faces. They exchange glances.

"Let's make it quick! Hellboy wont approve on this... I dont want these tests to be interrupted..."

Those words make my stomach turn. I know it is the words of doom for me. One of the men comes closer, holding something in his hand.

A syringe.

"No… wait… please…" the leather straps that holds me cuts into my skin every time I move. Panic is bubbling up in my throat, but I can't scream. I can't do anything about the tragic fate I am going to face. Hopelessness fills me. The needle is so close to my arm now…

BANG!

All of the men jumps out of their skin at the sound. My vision is still blurry. All I know is that a massive, red thing has just crashed into the room and a dark voice, filled to the brink with fury is shouting:

"This isnt right! Youve done nothing but experimenting with this guy since he came here! Youve had your goddamned tests!

"Son! Thank you, I know how you feel, but I believe these men can handle this…" another voice says. Someone has followed the giant through the door. The voice is calm and, sort of, experienced. And old, like sandpaper against wood. But why does he too want me locked up here? Though the demons presense comforts me. It is strang e that someone who looks like that is what scares me the least. A little spark of hope is lit in my chest.

"Broom, theese tests must not be interrupted" one of the pale men says irritated, but he seems to have pretty much respect for the red giant. My hope grows.

"I grew up with the bureaus tests, remember? I know how it works; it just keeps going, until somebody says thats enough, well guess what..."

"Hellboy!"

The demon has walked up to me now and suddenly the pain is gone. My arms and legs are free though Im too weak to move them.

"...thats enough..."

At those words a wave of relief washes over me. So great that I am unable to talk. I can hear the big, red demon-like thing talk through a blurry mist in my mind, sounding very distant.

"Your gonna be alright, buddy. Im not gonna let them do what they did to me."

I drift off into a deep slumber…

* * *

Abby and Lucy pulled backwards in panic. By knocking over tables and chairs on their way they hoped to put some distance between them and the creature. Its roaring and furiously twisting tentacles made the girls surer every second that this creature intended to be their end.

Suddenly a road of very strange things happened very quickly.

It stared with something coming in through the doors keyhole. It looked like a white, thick cloud of some kind. A loud click revealed that the lock was opened and immediately the handle went down and three people entered the room. Lucy could only make out that one of them were a walking space suit, with nobody in it, and one of them had green-blue skin and something that looked like fins. But she didn't get surprised. She had no energy left for that.

As the third person, a young, brown-haired girl, stepped into the middle of the room the creature started to burn. Literally. And so did the girl. Though she wasn't consumed by the fire. It almost seemed to... come from her.

The creature on the other hand twisted and turned, screaming in fury and pain as the whole room started to buzz and flicker. The flames licked the creature, eating it slowly. The fur smoked and hissed, spreading a sharp scent of burnt hair. Like from a hairdryer, but ten times worse. The tentacles shrank to black, crispy pieces and the eyes melted away. Blue, electric sparks shot out in every direction, hitting walls and furniture only inches away from the people in the room.

"The fire is not my enemy… it is a part of me… it is mine… The fire is not my enemy…" Liz enjoyed the feeling of total control. She could feel the evil of the creature being burned away bit by bit. But this was not her luckiest day...

She let out a cry of pain as a blue, buzzing lightning hit her in the stomach. Even though she couldn't burn, the power from it threw her backwards at the same time as the creature let out a final hiss before it turned into a heap of black-burned bones. Liz hit the glass cases behind her hard and fell to the floor in a rain of scattered glass.

"Liz!" Abe ran to her lifeless form on the floor. Hundreds of nightmare images of Liz lying cold and dead ran through his mind, and he tried his best to push them away. Dropping the gun, right on the floor, he got down on his knees and turned her carefully so she was lying on her back. He put one hand behind her neck and one around her back, lifting her up slightly. A panicky chaos started taking over his brain as he saw the cuts in her face and on her hands, glowing red in sharp contrast to her dark brown hair, stripes of it falling down in her face.

"Liz! Liz, please, you… you have to open your eyes! Liz, are you okay?" Abe whispered desperately, even though he knew she was far from okay. Her eyes remained closed and the merman felt completely powerless.

For a horrible second he thought he had lost her. But then there was a grunt, barely hearable, and he felt like he'd just been saved from the surgeons knives at his first, chaotic day at the BPRD, only this was ten times better.

"Liz! Are you okay?" he managed to whisper. She stired a bit and then flickered her eyes open.

"Mm... what... do you think, idiot?" she murmured with a smile. Then she met his gaze, and found herself unable to look away.

She had always admired the fish-mans eyes. Many things about him was fascinating, but especially his eyes. They were so… deep blue, intelligent… enchanting… she thanked god he wasn't a psychic, because she felt very, very retarded, thinking these thoughts. For a few moments they just sat there, staring sheepishly at each other.

After the relief of knowing Liz was okay, the rest of the people in the room started to feel very awkward. That is, mostly Johann, since the girls were still a bit too busy staring from Johann, to the burned heap on the floor, to the odd couple by the glass cases, to the sealing, from which loud thuds and cursing still came and back to Johann. Abby's face colour was very hard to describe and she looked like she would puke at any moment.

Desperately looking for something to say, Johann came up with the worst opening line imaginable;

"Johann Krauss! Head of ectoplazmic rezearch! Pleazure zu meet you!" as if this would explain everything. At least it seemed to wake the girls from their coma-like condition and Lucy suddenly felt terribly guilty.

True, these people were some sort of creatures too, but they were nothing like the spiders. They had saved her and Abby's lives and they were acting more human than many humans she'd met. And she thanked them by staring. She took three hesitating steps and shook the unusual ectoplasmic man's outstretched hand.

"I'm…" she started but paused as she realized she sounded like a pubertal rubber chicken. After clearing her throat she continued "I am Lucy. Lucy Devaux. And this is my friend, Abby Monroe." She looked over her shoulder to see that Abby had recovered a bit and walked slowly towards them, reaching out her arm.

"P-pl-pleasure to meet you!" she murmured.

Meanwhile Abe and Liz had woken up too. Now realizing that they were practically hugging each other they both blushed deeply and looked down.

"Uh… can you move your arms and legs?" Abe asked trying to sound like a professional doctor as he helped Liz too stand up.

"Yeah… I can manage. Ouch! Oh, that damn spider was really going for it..."

Abe chuckled before turning his attention to Abby and Lucy.

When he was sure Liz could stand without his help he reached out an arm.

"My name is Abe Sapien. This is Elisabeth Sherman." He said politely, trying to sound a bit casual, but the girls didn't look less confused just because they knew their names, so he continued, "I… am guessing you two are interested in some answers right now?"

"Yeah, that'd be… real nice…" Abby nodded.

Meanwhile on the roof Hellboy felt more cheerful than he'd felt in a long time. Off course it was always tiring fighting monsters and knowing he worked for a man who practically hated him didn't exactly help. But now he realized just how sick he'd been at lying in bed all day, feeling handicapped. True he was a quick healer, but the giant monster goddess Hecate, he had battled a month ago had been a hard challenge. Hard enough to give him injuries that took time for even him to heal from. The strange thing was that she had tried to recruit him. Her ways of persuasion was not very charming ones…

"There's nothin like a good workout, don't ya think?" for an answer, the creature gave up a furious hiss and swung out a tentacle like a torpedo, missing the demon by inches and hitting the roof they stood on with a hollow clang.

"Less noise, more brain!" Hellboy shouted. Though his own methods were pretty simple;

Grab, drag, punch and smash. This seemed to be included in most of his plans.

But obviously it worked.

Once again using his favourite trick he grabbed the tentacle in an attempt to drag the whole creature closer to the edge, punch it and let it fall and get… well, smashed.

Unfortunately the tentacle was a bit too slimy and Hellboy had a hard time not loosing his grip. The thick layer of snow made the roof slippery and snow flakes hit him in the face. Somehow, being the determined demon he was, he managed to swing the squealing creature in a circle around him before he finally let go and the gigantic predator slipped over the edge, screaming as it tumbled down those devastating meters to a certain death.

"Look out below!" the demon shouted and looked carefully over the edge.

Luckily, the school ground was already evacuated and the spider creature didn't land on anyone's head.

It landed on something else. Something big, hairy and slimy with an electric, blue buzz around it.

Another creature.

And behind it one more. And one more.

A few seconds later the ground wasn't white anymore. It was black. A furious, hissing, bluesparkling carpet lay before Hellboy. It completely covered the ground, in front of the school building and with the burned oak tree in the background it all looked like a fancy "The day the earth stood still"-poster. The snow on the ground was hid. Or what was left of it. It had likely melted.

The devastating killing machine moved towards the stone walls, and the front lines already started to climb with ease.

"Crap…"

"Relax, Red!" Liz's voice shouted from below. "I'll take care of them!"

"But, Liz… you saw what happened with the other creature!" Abe's concerned voice said.

"I was just not being careful enough! If we want to get out alive, I gotta do this!"

There was a pause. Abe clearly didn't like the idea of Liz risking to be hit by a "lightning" again, but he realized she was right. There was obviously no escape and not even Hellboy could take all those creatures down in time. He bit his lip.

"Don't get hit."

She nodded seriously and turned around. Yellow flames started to appear on her hands and arms and spread to the rest of her body. She focused her gaze on the moving carpet on the ground and soon the creatures climbing on the wall started screaming and twisting as they were slowly burned to ash. But they were many more than Liz had expected and she didn't dare to release as much of her powers as she had to.

She had lost control before. If she stopped concentrating for as much as a millisecond that could be the last millisecond for the people around her. It had already cost the lives of her family and many other innocent people. She had almost burned Abe and a group of other agents to death when she released all of her power and after that she'd promised herself never to risk loosing control again.

She wrinkled her whole face in concentration, kept her gaze fixed on the hairy creatures. The small fires soon developed into one massive fire, its roaring mixing with the screeches, and cries from the spiders and the smoke rose to the snow heavy clouds. Abe, Johann and the rest in the room stood like wide eyed children, watching the impressive, horrible picture in front of them.

Then in one massive explosion of hot, yellow flames and ice blue, electric sparks the ancient creatures were ripped to a billion, bloody pieces, spreaded over the white snow.

A heavy silence suddenly lay over the place. A silence of death. Parts of fur and skin slowly fell from the sky like bizarre snowflakes. Peacefully. Like nature tried to pretend nothing had happened.

A gasp broke the silence. Liz fell to the floor once again, but out of exhaustion this time.

Now it was not only Abe who came to her side.

"Miss Elizabeth! Are you alright?" Johann asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Uh… yeah… just… never had to cook so much calamari… at once before…"

Abe chuckled. This was one of the things he liked about Liz. She could joke in every situation. Because of her background she really hated to be referred to as a victim. Though that fact made her less willing to talk about her problems, which often led to her getting more and more depressed...

"Liz, kiddo, you okay?" Hellboy had suddenly climbed in through the window. The girls automatically backed of a bit, but seeing the demons friendly smile they relaxed a little, trying to remember that he was one of the good guys.

"Oh, hi there, you can call me Hellboy."

"I'm just fine, HB… how the hell did you get on the roof anyways?"

"Long story…"

"Now, lets all get out of here." Abe suggested. Without a word the whole gang walked out of the room, through the landscape of disaster that the creatures had created...

* * *

"Liz! Red! We tried to reach you through the communicators, but all the goddamn things just went out!"

"Yeah, those slimos sucked the power outta everything electric. But where the hell were you and the rest of the backup, Katie?"

"Oh, don't give me that crap, Red! We were just a _**little**_ bit busy evacuating the area and trying to round up a dozen more creatures…"

"There were more?"

"Yeah, but they fled. We have a squad searching the area to take them down."

"A-hem!"

Everybody turned their heads towards the sound. Abby had had enough.

"Excuse me, but what are we supposed to do? And for that matter, who are you people?"

There was an uncertain silence and the team exchanged glances.

"Who's this?" Kate asked giving Hellboy a confused look.

"I'm Abby and this is Lucy and those creatures tried to rip us to shreds only minutes ago!"

"Wait, were you the only people left in the school?" Kate suddenly asked opening her eyes wide.

"Yeah…"

"That's really weird… because they didn't go after anyone out in the yard, and it was… pretty crowded… They all went towards the school. Did they go after anyone else?"

"Well, they killed a teacher… but that's probably because she was in its way…"

"Wait! Wait, just… hold on…" Abby looked like she hadn't slept for many weeks. She squeezed the area between her eyes with two fingers, trying not to loose control of herself, "Are you saying… that maybe these things were only after us?"

"Or just one of you… is there anything…, you know, special about any one of you? I mean… supernatural?"

"You think it might have something to do with my... power?" everyone gave Lucy strange glances.

"Look. I know this sounds insane, but…" she looked from Abe, whose gills were flapping slightly, to Hellboy, rubbing his neck with one gigantic stone fist,

"...or maybe not… anyways, my mother, my little sister and me, we are… sort of healers. We heal people just by touching them. Anything from small cuts to… growing back limbs. But we cant heal ourselves. And we cant give people unnaturally long lives, or anything like that..."

No one said anything.

"Wow... that is... still very impressive." Kate said, breaking the silence.

"Yeah, not many seems to think so... Im mostly referred to as a... freak of nature..."

"Okay…And what about you?" she turned to Abby.

"I… I don't know… I can't do anything, and I don't know about my parents… I'm an orphan… they died when I was a baby…" she looked down.

"Oh…" Kate breathed, not quite sure of what to say. These girls had obviously very sad stories to tell "I'm sorry… Well, I think we'll have to call your mother and aunt, Lucy, and get all of you to the Bureau a.s.a.p. for your safety."

What none of them knew was that someone was watching them. An almost invisible shadow, an elf woman with ice cold, blue gaze and poisonous red hair, sat on the roof top of the building, crooked, like a cat.

"Thats alright... I will get you soon enough, Lucy dear..."

* * *

**Okay, I know thats not exactly what they did to Abe in the comics, and by the way, that flashback was completely useless to the mainstory, but I think the whole thing about how Hellboy helped Abe (and others) to sort of survive the bureau was so sweet :) sorry, I am an obsessed Abe-fan! And I know the romance is crappy right now, but I promise, it will get better! Pleeeeeease review! :)**

**Stormie95**


	4. Those little hints of affection

**Okay so here is chapter four. Hm... not so many reviews this far but hopefully more will come. Anyway, this chapter contains no fighting. It concentrates more on the relationships between some characters, there will be girltalk and more of Abes flashbacks plus a horrifying surprise...**

* * *

"So, did I get this straight…?" Lucy hadn't touched her tea on the table in front of her.

"Hellboy was born in another dimension, brought to the earth by some madman with beard, and raised on an air force base in New Mexico by an old occult adviser to President Roosevelt. And now he is the best agent at the… bureau for… para-abnormal…"

"Paranormal." Kate cut in, sipping her tea.

"Right, paranormal research and… defence?"

"Yep!"

"And Abraham Sapien… the fish-guy… he was… found in a basement?" Abby continued.

"Your quick learners…"

"…And his name was taken from an inscription on the tank. And Liz Sherman is a pyrokinetic… Sidney Leech is a human metal-detector…"

"And you are a former professor at the New York University!"

"Yeah… boring me." Kate smiled and put down the teacup on the table.

Abby hesitated a moment, glancing over her shoulder, like she was afraid someone might sneak up behind her, then she asked the question that had bothered her all along.

"Ehm… Kate, you haven't told us anything about Johann. Does he… you know… prefer to keep his story a secret?"

"Oh, no it's just that he came here just moments before we got the alarm from your school. He is practically as much a newcomer as you are. And Sidney just came here about a month ago."

"Oh…" Lucy picked up her teacup and felt childishly proud that she and Abby was not the only ones who found everything new and scary. "Hm… the tea is cold…"

"That's alright, let me help you." Came Liz's voice from the door she had just stepped in through. In the next second the tea started to boil in Lucy's cup and small columns of steam appeared in it.

"Ouch! Very hot... Thanks!" Lucy grinned, quickly putting the cup down. In the next moment Clark's voice called out through the door, and they could see he held a phone in his hand.

"Lucy! Your mother is on the phone! Abby you might wanna come too!"

"Okay! Be right there."

When the girls were gone through the doors and Liz had settled down in the huge leather sofa she always preferred to sit in, she decided to ask something that had bothered her for a very long time. Though she hesitated, rubbing her neck and turning her teacup in every possible direction before she could find the right words.

"Kate… can I ask you something? You know, a little girl-talk sort of business?"

"Sure…shoot…" Kate murmured not taking her eyes from the magazine she had opened.

"Just by pure curiosity… have you ever… felt attracted to someone who has been a very close friend for a really, really long time? You know, so that it feels really weird to suddenly feel attracted to this person, but you have sort of known all along that you like him, you know, more than as a friend and that this person might feel the same? But you're not sure if you're really good enough for this person?"

Kate looked up from the magazine. For a few moments she stared silently at her friend as if her brain worked really hard trying to make something out of the confusing question.

"…No…not really…why?"

"Oh, just… curious…" looking down as her cheeks turned red, Liz wished she had never asked the question.

Suddenly Kate's lips crooked in a nasty grin and Liz knew it was a bad omen.

"Well, that's a lot of curiosity, my friend…" she started, looking like a doctor examining her patient "Now, can I ask you something?"

"Uh… yeah, okay, I guess…"

"Is it Hellboy?"

Liz choked and started coughing violently, her tea ending up on the carpet, as she nearly dropped the cup.

"What? COUGH! COUGH! No! COUGH! I mean… I don't…COUGH! …know what you're talking about!"

"Okay! Okay!" Kate giggled, almost getting the tea in her throat too, "I'm just kidding! I know you haven't fallen for Red!"

Liz sighed in relief.

"Its Abe, isn't it?" at this remark Liz's whole face turned red and she started stuttering her words.

"Kate! I didn't… come to the bureau to be part of your little… love rehearsal!"

"Liz!" Kate said, sounding a bit calmer, moving over to sit beside her best friend. She put her hand over Liz's that was resting on the table, trying to make eye contact with her. Keeping her gaze on the table, the pyrokinetic kept pushing her hair back over and over again with her free hand. Kate sighed.

"Liz, I'm serious! Look, what I am trying to say is that… since that whole "Sword of storms-business", in China, you and Abe has been… what happened to you on that island?"

"I told you, we fought the water-dragon-thing…"

"Just that?"

There was a pause. Liz struggled with herself, not being the sort of girl who liked to share herself with others. Not even her best friends. But she quickly decided she had to say something. She couldn't bear pretending anymore. Pretending like nothing had happened.

"You… you know that the plane was hit by lightning?"

"Yeah."

"And that the pilots died emediately?"

"Yes."

"Well… according to Abe, the plane sank all the way to the bottom. The only thing I can really remember was that I got something over me. It could have been one of the planes doors or something. And… I was running out of air, and I struggled in panic, cause I knew I might just have a few moments left, you know? And I… found my flashlight and started waving with it incase someone might find me… and Abe did. He saved my life… he lifted that big, metal thing of me, but… then my seatbelt was stuck. And I knew that… even if he did get me loose… I wouldn't make it to the surface, so… yeah…"

"Yeah, what? He saved your life, but you died and now you two are really awkward? You're not making much sense, Liz!"

"No, okay, look… he did save my life, I needed air and he… gave it to me… so to say…"

"Huh…?"

"Oh, come on Kate, you're supposed to be the super-professor-genius!"

Kate looked very confused a few moments, then her eyes widened and her face started to change into a paler white colour.

"Holy… you didn't…?"

"Twice…" Liz held up two fingers, not taking her eyes from the table. Kate didn't say anything for a few moments and Liz waited for the attack, though Kate's reaction was not expected.

"So… did you talk about it afterwards?" Liz looked at Kate almost chocked.

"Your not gonna laugh at me and start teasing me?"

"Why? I mean, it's really sweet! His kiss saved your life! Literally! A kiss of life… I think I'm gonna write one of my reports on it!"

"Oh, shut up, will you!" Liz grinned, feeling relieved. She had talked about it, and she hadn't died. "But honestly, what could he have done? It was life and death, really… and we never talked about it for real, we just had some retarded conversation that sounded really scientific… "Ugh! I was breathing your burps?" Who the hell comes up with that?"

"Take it easy, girl!" Kate said, trying to sooth her friend, who seemed to sink further into the ground with each word. "So… I mean, did it feel like… something more than an emergency act? So to say…"

"You never quit, do you?" Liz grinned.

"No, really!"

There was a pause and Liz turned her gaze towards a corner of the room, a strange, absent-minded smile playing upon her lips. There was also a strange spark, not having anything to do with Liz's powers, making her eyes look brighter just for that little moment as her memories seemed to come back. Of course, she hadn't allowed herself to remember before…

"It was… okay… I guess…"

"U-huh?" Liz had never been bad at lying, she had fooled even Abe at times, but it didn't take an Einstein to understand that Liz had thought it was more than "okay"…

They both leaned back at the same time. And they both kept staring at the opposite wall, not knowing that if someone walked by, this could easily be mistaken for some sort of philosophy club. Kate sighed and put her arm over Liz's shoulders.

"Liz, honey… I think you're in love..."

"Oh, well, here's the truth, love doctor: he deserves better than a human pipe bomb…"

Kate knew this was not good. The way Liz pushed away her feelings combined with love. It made Kate afraid her friend might end up depressed for eternity… Still, she couldn't get an image out of her head. An image of Abe Sapien and Liz Sherman being a… no, that would never happen… they were both too determined… and… too nice…Kate sighed deeply.

The "philosophy club" was interrupted by a hysterical tornado, slamming the doors open and rampaging into the room, which nearly became the end for the enormous Christmas tree.

The tornado turned out to be Sidney Leech. And he looked like someone had dropped a bomb on the bureau.

"Calm…down! Whatever it is, it's probably ten times smaller than you think…"

"Lucy's mom's in… (Gasp)… trouble!"

* * *

"You mean, you remember absolutely nothing?"

"No…"

I'm feeling better now. Much better. No, I still don't know who I really am, but in truth… I don't know if I really care. I'm with good people now! The big, red demon… Hellboy… I never thought I would have something even close to a friend… but I this man has quickly become a very close friend. And the old man… the professor… Professor Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm, I might even dare to say he's become a sort of father figure to me. He turned out to be really nice. There are other people here, though… people who would do anything to get to start cutting my skin again…

"You were woken by electrical stimulation once they had brought you to the bureau. I keep wondering if we'll ever get to know what happened to you. And why someone had placed you in that awful chamber…" they have given me a strange liquid in a cup. "Tea" they call it… actually… rather nice… a bit too hot for my taste, but I like it okay.

"Now that I come to think of it… I do remember some sort of sharp pain… and faces flashing by, but that must have been a dream… I couldn't have seen them if I wasn't awake…"

"Well… the mind is an extraordinary thing…" Broom says thoughtfully, standing up with some difficulties, and some help from his walking stick.

"Professor… there is something I've thought about… are there… many more, you know… like me and Hellboy?"

"Jesus!" the demons sudden outburst makes me jump half the way through the roof. Did I upset him in some way?

"I-I'm sorry, maybe I shouldn't ask…"

"No, no! That's not the problem! I just remembered… god, how could I forget mentioning Liz!?" I pause and hope that my raised eyebrow will explain to him that I have no idea what a "Liz" is.

"Liz Sherman! She'll be here any goddamn minute and I haven't told you about her!" I start to understand.

"Oh, it is a person!"

"Yeah, what did you think? A rare, bug-eating flower? She has been at Belamies hospital for a while… for the 6th time actually…"

"Oh… why?"

"Yeah, that's what bugs me…she's…afraid of herself…of what she can do. She's like us. Well not exactly, she looks normal, but she is a pyrokinetic. She can make fire in short terms. And sometimes she just… looses control and explodes! Of course when they found out, those idiots at the bureau lab started treating her like a bomb, and now she thinks she is one…but, as ya know I'm fireproof, so I guess she felt safer with me, knowing that she couldn't kill me."

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?" I ask hesitantly.

"She's…she's like my little sister, really." The demon smiles.

"So… you two are not…?" I try to use random hand motions to show my point and Hellboy obviously understands, his expression making me wish I had never asked.

"What are you, a therapist? You cant snog your little sister, can ya?"

In that very moment there is a distant murmur from several people, sounding a bit like a bee-society moving towards our room.

"I would believe she is here now!" smiles Broom. I swallow. It suddenly hits me... I have never talked to a woman... Yes, yes Ive only "lived" for a couple of days, but still... I am glad if this Liz will be my friend, but her arrival wakes thoughts I havent allowed myself to think before and I cant help but wonder... Will I ever get to know what that famous feeling actually feels like? Can one love... a freak?

* * *

"What do you mean, "She's in trouble"?"

Kate was getting very impatient with the young metal detector. This was just great! Whatever had happened she hoped innerly that Sidney had not been in charge of deciding whether it was a serious thing or not. Apart from his mutation, Sidney had another power; he was able to overdo everything and anything. Besides, Abby Monroe and Lucy Devaux had had enough trouble already. All this was way too much for two sixteen year-old girls.

"Eh… you better come talk to Clark and Bud about that!"

Kate and Liz exchanged glances and stood up, knowing that it was safest to check it out closely.

As they entered the dimly lit communication room a few seconds later they were met by a worried agent Clark and the two girls, seemingly on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

"Kate! Liz! Good you came! Damn Christ, this had to happen now!" the agent chewed his lip and scratched his hair nervously.

"What? What happened?"

"The girl's mother seemed alright and I just sent down a unit to come and get her, but then… she started to sound bothered… and suddenly she said something really weird… it was something like… "Oh, demons of hell, not now!" so I asked, of course, what was the matter and then she said something even more random… didn't really hear what it was, cause there was lots of noise in the background. Like somebody was crashing in through the windows or something! And she said, no shouted, something about animals…"

"Wait a minute! What do you mean, animals?"

"Maybe I didn't hear her right, but it was something like…"Look for it where the snake, the wolf and the swan gazes upon the m…"

"The m?"

"Yeah, then we were cut of! But she hadn't hang up, it was like she just dropped the phone, cause I heard her scream and the strange back-ground noise disappeared in the distance, like someone, or something, was leaving…"

"Oh, god…" Kate put one hand over her forehead and ran it down her face, looking very tired. Thinking for a moment she then said,

"Get Abe, Johann and Hellboys asses down here. We are going on a trip!"

* * *

"Liz!"

I can see the squad of agents surrounding the girl and I can see her bags lying dropped on the floor, but I can't see her. It is a little difficult since Hellboy have swept her up in one of his famous, crushing hugs (luckily I haven't had to face one of them yet). Though I can hear a voice. Half choked and weak, but filled to the brink with joy over seeing her friend again,

"Red! I didn't come here to die on my first day back!" I stop right where I stand. She doesn't fear the demon. Not at all! Then maybe she wont fear me? Though, there is a fear in her voice...another fear. Or… more like a hidden sorrow. Sorrow and fear and hate that she tries to hide. I wonder how many she has killed by accident. Poor girl.

"Liz, I wanna introduce you to someone!" I snap out of my thoughts. Oh dear, that someone is me… "This is Abraham Sapien! Our very own fish-man!"

There she is. Elisabeth Sherman. She looks so… friendly. Just pure and friendly. The long, brown hair hangs down like curtains under a black cap, framing her face in perfect contrast to the pale skin and matching the deep chocolate like eyes. She looks at me without fear. And… more surprising… with curiosity. She is…what's that word again? Pretty. Oh, no, Abraham! Don't you even think about it! Hm… even though she is very…good looking I can't help but noticing that sorrow in her eyes that I too noticed in her voice. The same panic. The same self-hatred. Imagine being more afraid of yourself than of two demons standing in front of you…

"Hi, Abraham!" she smiles reaching out a hand. Wait. A hand? Does she want me to shake it? Of course, you silly tuna! What else?

"Hello…" she has not turned her gaze from my eyes…how strange…I myself would probably have done so in her situation…her hand…and I never thought she would ever want to touch me, yet there it is, her hand in mine. It is very warm…and soft…I smile "You… can call me Abe if you prefer that."

"Abe…" she murmurs thoughtfully, like she tastes the word, "Nice to meet you, Abe."

For the first time in my short and seemingly pointless life… I feel warm inside…

* * *

**Everyone goes: "aaaaaww!" :) Yep I think the romance is improving, dont you? Hope you liked it and, dont worry, everything will get its explanation! :) Review, PLEASE! I need opinions here!**

**Stormie95**


	5. Strange places

**Yep here is another chapter incase anyone is reading :) Thanx to ELPHPIRATE for a nice, encouraging review and... well, to you who gives this fic some time, Im incredibly grateful! :)**

* * *

Lucy looked seriously ill.

Keeping her gaze fixed on the white world of clouds passing by outside the window and her hand pressed over her mouth she really reminded of someone trying to hold back a barf. Someone seasick. But worse. A lot worse. None in the team had tried to speak to her, not even Abby. Instead they kept discussing a hundred and one things that the strange message from Mrs. Devaux could mean. No progress so far. Sighing deeply, Abby let the serious voices around her turn into a muffled sound in the back of her mind as she looked over to her friend by the window. Lucy was almost as pale as the bright world outside and black marks under her eyes made her look like a ghost. A worried ghost with bright light shining through her red hair. The thought of Lucy having to go to the funeral of her last relatives made Abby's stomach twist and turn in agony. She knew what it was like growing up without a parent. And she knew one thing: she didn't want the same for her best friend and almost-sister. Abby chewed her lip several times. Lucy was normally the calm type who didn't get upset. That had always been Abby's job. But now… seeing her tortured face, Abby didn't know quite how she would react if one tried to speak to her. It was like her whole being sent out negative energy in every direction, like a ticking bomb, and if you pressed the wrong button… she could explode. So Abby kept quiet…

After what seemed like eternity a speaker voice belonging to one of the pilots explained that they were preparing to land. This information seemed to awaken Lucy from her strange half-dead condition and her gaze turned abruptly to one of the plane doors. Almost like she planned to skip the landing and jump right now. Abby even felt her reflexes getting her ready for stopping her friend from doing anything reckless. So much for trust… she thought to herself. They were sinking in height. She could feel it in her ears. The white outside world suddenly turned into blue sky and as the helicopter made a sharp turn you could see the snow covered ground. It had stopped snowing. The bump when the helicopter landed came quickly. The pilots explained that this was the place (which they had already managed to calculate on their own) and everyone started checking their equipment and guns as they draped themselves in thick jackets. Lucy was already at the door.

Ice cold, clear air hit them like fists as they stepped out. They had landed on some sort of backyard. No, not yard. Garden. For a few moments the whole team just stood staring at it. It was like taken from a Tim Burton film, or a fairytale. It was breathtaking. And it was resplendent.

The whole ground was covered in grass. Living, growing, green grass. Roses, lilies and a thousand different berry bushes grew everywhere around them. Everything was covered in a thin layer of snow, delicately, almost like white rouge. Icicles hanged from all the green leaves and two majestic willow trees waved peacefully in the wind, tinkling as the ice covered branches softly hit each other. The sound gave the whole place a magic, almost spooky feeling. Massive oak trees edged the mysterious garden, so no one could see it from the houses around. It was like a secret middle stage between summer and winter. A strange silence lay over it. It was like every little flower, every little leave was pulsing with untold mystery… and magic.

"Damn…" was Hellboy's choice of words to break the spooky silence.

"You like it?" Abby grinned. "Lucy's mom love gardening, so she decided to keep the garden alive around the year. That family doesn't just heal people, you know." First now, they noticed the BPRD agents in similar, military green jackets walking around and taking samples. Kate took sight on one of them and gestured to the team to follow her. They walked carefully up a small path which led to a pretty house that was painted in a mild, yellow colour and stepped up on a big, veranda. One of the agents that stood looking through a file looked up and waved at them to come.

"Agent Devon!" Kate called out "What have you found?"

"I-I'm really confused, agent Corrigan. We arrived only minutes before you, so we haven't really got much time to investigate, but we know that this Mrs. Devaux is missing and from pretty clear evidence she was taken through the back door." He pointed to prove his point. Yes, it was pretty obvious. The door wasn't there anymore. In stead there was a big, dark hole in the wall, cracks and something that looked like giant claw marks edging it. Lucy's face turned as green as her eyes and she pressed one hand over her mouth, only uttering one word:

"Eden…"

"Huh?" but Hellboy didn't get an answer before Lucy had rushed into the house and disappeared.

"That's right! Eden!" Abby shouted.

"Hey, not you too!" but Abby was gone through the hole.

"Come on!" Liz said, "Whatever is the matter with them we can't just stand here!"

"Have they… gone mad?"

"No Devon, I'm sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation to all this!" Kate said, though she felt seriously worried for the girls. As Kate stayed outside with agent Devon to exchange more information, the rest of the team (and a slightly nervous Sidney) walked into the dimly lit house. The power was obviously out. It took a while for their eyes to adjust to the dark but the first thing that hit them was a scent. Even though the ice cold December winds had filled the house, a faint, but very familiar smell still lay over the room. Liz didn't really look were she was going so before she knew it she found herself in Abe's lap.

"Sorry…" she murmured, thanking god for the dark. At least he couldn't see that her face was turning very red.

"No problem." He chuckled, helping her to find her balance again.

"Dammit, why didn't we bring any torches!" she murmured to change the subject.

"We have you, don't we?" Hellboy grinned, before uttering some sort of disgusted squawk.

"Ouch!" Bud Waller grunted as he walked right into the demon, who had abruptly stopped. This resulted in Sidney walking into Bud, Abe stepping on Sidney's toes and Liz almost torching Johann.

"What the hell are you doing?" Clark asked. He was the only one who had stayed out of the chain reaction.

"Sorry, guys, but there is something up ahead! I just stepped in it! Liz, get over here!" Hellboy grunted.

"Okay, out of the way! I don't wanna kill anyone!" The room suddenly bathed in orange, flickering light as an orb of flames shot out from Liz's hand. The room looked like it could have been very cosy before the potential kidnappers had damaged it. Now there was giant claw marks everywhere, similar to the ones around the door. The furniture was knocked over, a mirror with several cracks in it threw back reflections of the flames and an Indian carpet lay in a heap in one corner. Making her way past the others Liz was soon able to see what Hellboy had stepped in.

"Yuck…" she and Hellboy grunted in unison. Most parts of the floor were covered in a very familiar, transparent slime and Liz was lucky enough to stand right under a string of it, hanging from the roof.

"Gah!" she cried as it fell and landed on her shoulder with a sticky "clitch" sound. "Slime! Great, it's always me! It's always the girl!"

"So they were here too…" Abe murmured coming from behind them. "That must be why the power cut… the electricity spiders were here… but… none of this makes any sense! Why would they only go after the Devaux family if they just wanted something… or someone to eat?"

"First things first, right?" Clark said seriously. "We better find the girls and see what the hell this "Eden" is…" The team silently nodded before splitting up and starting to search the rooms.

Since the rest of the rooms had windows and were pretty light, Liz decided to check the basement. Taking Sidney Leech and Bud Waller with her she lit a round ball of fire, letting it fly a meter in front of them. As they walked down a creaking, wooden staircase they noticed there was no slime. No signs of the spider creatures at all. They had obviously not searched the whole house.

Meanwhile, Hellboy, Johann and Clark decided to check what looked like kitchen and living room.

In another part of the house, Abe carefully walked through a door that had received numerous attacks from the creatures and threatened to fall of its hinges. A damaged, slime covered bedroom revealed itself.

"Hello? Anybody here?" He called out softly. Silence. He stepped carefully through the room. It was as cold as a tomb since one of the windows was open, making the long, deep purple curtains swell softly. That typical, white winterday-light threw pale beams through the window and just like the garden, the house seemed to be filled with some strange magic. Silent… too silent… no, not quite. Abe froze right were he stood.

"Who… who's there?" No answer. Great. Was he starting to hear voices now? This house had really gone to his head. Still… he could swear he had heard it… a low, almost unhearable murmuring. Yes there it was again! It was definitely not the wind. It came from behind a side door. A voice. A child's voice, murmuring to itself.

"Hello! Who is there? I won't hurt you! You can come out now!" As Abe walked towards the door he could hear it clearer and clearer.

"…no…no…no, not that one… that's absurd, Odette, you know it is…"

"Hello? Why won't you answer me?" Abe grabbed the metal handle and pushed it down.

"…that's all you can think of? We have a job to do, my mom's in trouble, remember?" The door swung open and revealed another room. A strange library-looking room which walls was covered up by bookshelves and strange pictures.

Then he saw her.

She was standing in the middle of the room, on a round, red carpet, facing him, holding two books half her own size in her arms, struggling with its weight. A little girl. She couldn't be older than seven, maybe six. Her big, curious, emerald eyes gazed up at him behind a pair of gigantic, round glasses and her short length was compensated by a waist-length hair bush. It was even redder than the carpet she stood on and made a beautiful contrast to her eyes.

"Oh… hello…" Abe started, not really sure of what to say.

"Hi!" the girl smiled. Abe was almost shocked over her strange behaviour. Or more precisely, that she behaved so normal around him. The most common reaction on Abe's appearance was people turning very pale, screaming or even fainting ("Rookies" as Hellboy used to say). But this girl… she just stretched out a small hand and said politely;

"I'm really sorry about the mess, but if you had any idea what's happened here… You must think we are some sort of crazyheads! But you have to trust me, mister, this is not a madhouse! Usually we play cards! Or work in the garden! Me, my sister, my mom and my sister's friend! Like we did today! And then, out of the blue, comes big, nasty monsters! I got scared… so I hid down here with Odette… we were being chickens, weren't we? I think mom is in trouble…and my sister too, cause she didn't come home after school… so now we are going to go and help them, Odette and me. We have to, you see. But don't you worry, we will get them back, I'm Eden Devaux, but my friends call me Ed, what's your name?"

All this she said very quickly and through her little speech her voice raised to almost upset screaming and back to an unnaturally polite tone again. Though, suddenly things got clearer to Abe.

"So you are Eden?"

"Eden Loraine Scarlett Devaux!" she beamed. "And this is Odette!" Eden turned on her heel and ran, or more precisely bounced, to the back of the room, her hair flying like a red hurricane around her head. Picking up something from a leather sofa she then bounced back and nearly stumbled over the carpet in excitement. With a broad, snow white smile she held up a grey, and slightly sleepy, cat. It was very beautiful with dark, almost black, patterns over the entire body. It was very slim shaped with tiny paws and moved almost like a royalty. Slowly she opened her eyes and Abe couldn't stop staring. Her eyes were in a very intense, ocean blue shade. She blinked a few times, like she wondered what all the fuzz was about and studied the fishman thoughtfully.

"Odette! You can't sleep now! Mom is in trouble, remember?" Eden said blaming, sounding like she actually thought the cat would understand. "Odette, you have to help me find her! These people can help too!" Abe tried to hold back a laughter. She really was a strange little girl. But brave. Very brave. And perhaps…a bit mad… Though a few seconds later the merman would have to swallow his confidence.

"I'm sorry, Eden we have to go find your sister now. You can take the cat with you but I'm afraid she can't help us that much." Abe said politely. At that remark Odette looked up, fixing Abe's eyes with her sapphire gaze.

"And what makes you think a fish may help more?" she purred. Abe just gaped. No, the girl hadn't said anything. And as far as he could see there was no one else in the room.

"I… I'm sorry, Odette… I didn't realize you were…"

"No, of course not…" the cat continued, and this time there was no doubt, her lips were moving. "We are rare now a days… too rare… apology accepted…" Eden put down the unusual animal on the floor where she yawned sleepily and stretched her thin body.

"You lazy furball…" Eden blamed and put her hands on her hips.

"I beg your pardon? Every lady needs her beauty sleep, Eden, dear. Sleeping is something you should think of doing more often…" Abe kneeled down and tried with some difficulties to look at the cat without staring.

"I… have seen strange things in my days, so I shouldn't be very surprised, but… I've just never… met a talking cat before. What…where are you from? How did the Devaux family find you?"

"Well, technically… I found them. You don't see my kind that often anymore…"

"I'm… sorry, but things are not getting much clearer to me." Odette wrinkled her nose and flapped her ear several times, looking like she really wasn't in the mood of talking history and was just about to say something when someone stumbled through the doors behind Abe.

**"Eden! Odette!"** Lucy's red hair bush became visible and she fell to her knees, throwing her arms around Eden. Shaking from relief, she nearly choked her sister "Thank god…thank god…thank god you're okay… " She whispered through a breaking voice before taking her sister on arm-length distance. "Why didn't you call out when you heard us coming? Why? Answer me, Ed!" Lucy half cried, half screamed the words as she shook her sister who's glasses were on their way of her nose. Since Odette made no trouble interfering Abe felt like he should try to spare the little girl all this fuzz.

"Lucy, calm down! Maybe she was afraid! Be happy that she is alive! Things could have ended much worse!"

Lucy breathed heavily, staring her sister in the eye, still with a hard grip around her shoulders, but she had stopped yelling. Suddenly she gave up something between a sob and a sigh and pulled the little girl into a warm hug.

"I'm sorry I made you worried, Lu… I was trying to find a way to find mom…" Eden said carefully. Lucy cupped her face, sounding like she didn't know if she should laugh or cry.

"Oh…Eden, Eden, Eden…it's a good thought…a very good thought…but you can't do that alone, sweetie. And you don't have to be sorry! We _will_ find her! Together!"

**"Eden!"** This time it was Abbys turn to get relieved. As Lucy let go of her sister and picked up Odette, checking if she was alright, Abby ran to Eden, who had to recieve another ribcracking hug. Suddenly the little family realized that they were being watched and turned to see half the BPRD-team watching them by the door, looking slightly awkward.

"Eden, Odette, this is Clark, Johann Krauss and…um…Hellboy…and, well you've already met Abe Sapien."

"So this is the famous Eden? And Odette, ey?" Hellboy grinned.

"Hi!" Eden beamed.

"It is a pleasure." Odette said and chuckled at the team's perplexed faces.

"Wow…" Hellboy said stupidly "What else can you do?"

"You wouldn't want to know, my little red one..."

Hellboy chuckled amazed with a lower jaw that looked like it threatened to fall of his face. In the next moment the little communicator in his belt started buzzing and flashing red. He answered without bothering to ask why Liz had called.

"Hey, Liz! You've gotta come over here, Abe's made one hell of a find!"

"Uh…okay...I was gonna ask...never mind! Where are you?"

As Hellboy started explaining the way to the room, and Clark went to inform Kate and the other agents that the little girl was safe, the rest of the team started to take look around. The library had a very high roof and as they went further in they discovered that it was bigger than you might think when you first entered. The light was not that dim, since a huge window let in the bright winter day-light. The room was very rich in deep, brown-red colours and everywhere they could see strange golden instruments and marble statues. It was very beautiful and reminded much of the library back at the BPRD. Abe and Johann were the ones who showed the greatest interest in the strange papers and pictures on the walls. They just didn't seem to fit in. Not here. Maybe in a museum of modern arts, but not here. They were full of symbols, painted with black water ink on a white background. Strange, very strange symbols.

"Alchemy…" Johann murmured thoughtfully, rubbing his "chin" with his hand. "Zeze are all zymbols of alchemy. Ze science of ze zupernatural… vith vhich some people tried to create ze philozophers ztone…" He continued. Abe nodded.

"So is it the girls or their mother that are interested in alchemy?"

"Our dad was…" They both turned around to see Lucy standing behind them. "He and mom met at a conference of the International Corporation of alchemists and scientists in France. Mom went there when she was still learning about her power. She needed all contacts she could get to learn more… when she met my father, Emile Devaux he was a young alchemist and he helped her controlling her power. Mom always say he wasn't just a teacher to her, even in the beginning… it was love at first sight…" Lucy looked down, slightly ashamed that she had started spilling out her mother's love life to two people who maybe weren't even interested. But Abe just smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What happened to your father?" he asked hesitantly.

"He… he got cancer… and… died when Eden was just three years old…" She breathed, chewing her lip to hold back a sob. Abe didn't know what to say.

"Oh… I'm really sorry…"

"They say people with red hair have easier to get cancer… better hope Eden and I are luckier…" She glanced down at her feet. "I'm sorry, I am getting all sobby…"

"Nein, miss Devaux! Sorrow iz nozing to be ashamed of!" Johann said softly.

In the same moment Liz, Bud and Sidney came crashing into the room and when Hellboy introduced them to Eden and the talking cat Odette, he sounded almost more over enthusiastic than Eden. The devil man had always loved cats and looked forward to having long conversations with one. To see things from her point of view. Abe sighed at his friend.

"That riddle Mrs Devaux left us… "Look for it where the snake, the wolf and the swan gazes upon the m…" what could it mean? And what word was she going to say that starts on m?" Abe murmured.

"Maybe... she left uz a clue?" Johann said.

"Hey! Look at these books!" Abby called out. "She must have put them right here to make the riddle work!" Abe and Johann hurried to the book case where she stood, looking like she could start hyperventilating over her find, pointing on two books with the titles: "The swan princess", "Third wolf" and "Serpent".

"See? See? Dont you guys get it?" They understood very well, but didnt have the energy to try and calm her down. "Serpent means snake in French! And look!" She made her way to the bookcase on the opposite side where an old, dusty "Childhoods meadow" stood. "See? Swan, Wolf, Snake, and m must be Meadow!" She emediately started to flip through the pages of all four books, and looked between them, over them, under them and on all other places imaginable.

"Hm…" Abe murmured. He couldn't help but feeling that it was a bit too easy. Without really knowing what he was doing he walked further into the library where another alchemy picture hung on a wall. He studied it over and over again. His knowledge of alchemy was a bit rusty, but it all seemed very familiar.

"Johann!" he called out and he could soon hear the clanking, metalic sound from Johanns feet as he walked up to Abe. "Am I right that these symbols stand for antimony, arsenic and the planet mercury?"

"Ja, zat iz right! But ze tricky part iz zat they have many meanings, just like Chinese zymbols. Zis symbol could also mean the "vild spirit of man and nature" and it vas also often zymbolised by… vait a minute! It vas... often zymbolized by a wolf!"

"And the other two?"

"Vell…arsenic vas often zymbolised by ze image of a swan and mercury could mean many things, but among others…"

"…an image of a snake!" Abe filled in as his gills started to flap faster and faster. "Wait a minute… gazes upon…" he stepped up to the wall and turned around so that if someone had been sitting in the picture he saw the room from his or her point of view. And yes, there it was. The books in the bookcase in front of them had been placed out so that there were big empty spaces on every shelve and together they created the shape of…

"…a half moon." Abe breathed. He turned around on one heel and traced his hand carefully along the lower edge of the pictures frame. As he carefully pulled it out a centimetre from the wall something fell to the floor with a thud.

"I... over here! I think... I think I may have found something!" he called out as he picked up a small, yellowish envelope. It had a small text in black ink printed on the paper.

Soon the whole team and the Devaux family, plus Abby and Odette had gathered around Abe and Johann and about ten pairs of curious eyes tried to get a better look at the envelope, like if they stared hard enough they would eventually be able to see right through the paper.

"Your mother seems to have planned this for a long time... it is possible that she have always known that someone was after your family…"

"What do you mean "always"?" Lucy asked confused. "I know we have always been a very careful family, but is it possible that she... that she have been hiding from someone her entire life? Hiding us?"

"It… is possible…" Lucy looked like someone had slapped her face. She pulled her hands through her hair several times and looked like she could start panicking any moment.

"Uhm... I... What does it say?" she asked in a weak voice, staring at the little scrap of paper, like it was it that carried the responsibility for all this. Even hough his sight was better than most in the room, Abe had to look hard to read the little text.

"It says…"If required…information on…the highly dangerous… Mr. J. Silverfox." The next remark came from a very unexpected person and so many confused glances had probably never before been exchanged in one room as when Johann suddenly uttered:

"Zilverfox? That old idiot!?"

* * *

**So there is a little surprise! :) Well, review please and btw I might be starting another fic soon!**


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